Torn (All Torn Up #1)

Oh man, I love a good taboo age gap story, and this one was quite a large gap- a man who had practically helped raised this girl and her father\’s best friend. I have NOT read the stories prior to this (so I didn\’t know the back story of the father or the other couples), but I didn\’t need to in order to enjoy this tale. This was so good- tender and romantic yet taboo and bittersweet at times. These two characters had fire chemistry and the unfolding of their love kept me up all night reading, just hoping that things worked out for them in the end. Loved it!

Oh my heavens mercy!!! This book completely destroyed me in such a good way!!! It exceeded all my exceptions!!! I am so mad at myself for taking so freakin long to read it being that I’ve had it for a while. Oh my lord I cannot stop thinking about it!!! I want to re-read it already and I am one of those people that simply can’t reread a book no matter how good it is. But when it comes to this book I am fairly certain that I will be doing just that!!! This book is so enchanting!!! It was as if I was under a spell!!! I could not get enough of it!!! I basically read nonstop until there was nothing left to read!!! I looove Tor and Keniz\’s story!!! I find it to be totally and utterly amazing!!! And completely realistic. I don’t find it gross or unethical as some may. I can’t stand that somewhere in history someone decided who we can be with and who we can’t. No one has the right to tell us who we can and cannot love. In my opinion you simply can’t help who you love. As it is so often said the heart wants what it wants. And further more whose business is it anyway??? Nobody’s except the people involved in the relationship. Anyway Tor and Keniz’s relationship is one in the making. Slowly growing from the day Kenzi was born and feelings involved change based on Keniz’s age. There is no inappropriateness of any kind. They have a bond that is strong and by the time Kenzi is old enough their bond has grown to epic proportions. Their desires grow slowly but as where Tor struggles with his feelings Kenzi embraces them. In fact she was the one that relentlessly pursued him!!! It’s not that Tor doesn’t want it it’s just the circumstances that surround them he struggles with. But thankfully he finally embraces it and they end up having a relationship that most can only dream about. “she’s kidnapping me into her world, and I’m slowly surrendering, a willing hostage” Yes Kenzi may be fifteen years younger that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what she wants and that her feeling aren’t real. They simply complete each other. “Young love first love is so innocent. So pure and trusting. So all encompassing. I shouldn\’t be on the receiving end of that love from her at my age but no honesty she\’s my first love to.” I love how the day played out when they went on a ride and spent all day together. The setting made me feel as if I was on the sidelines watching and about to feel the feelings surrounding them. I think it was perfectly fitting that its that day when they take their relationship to the most intimate level. The feelings were real and so raw that they were palpable. The love they share is earth shattering. “I want crazy f****** love. I want someone that’ll never let me go. I want to wake up to my best friend every day” This book is Kenzi and Tor\’s journey about how they become who they are and what an phenomenal journey it is!!! If you are thinking about reading this book do so it is beyond sensational!!!

This is a story of a once in your life type of love that will capture your heart and take it on an emotional roller coaster ride till the end. Toren is tough, tender, quiet, protective, loyal, loving, with emotions that run deep. He can beat an abuser within an inch of his life, then tenderly hold a rescued kitten close to his heart. He is Asher and Ember’s best friend and godfather to their daughter Kenzi. Kenzi has had him wrapped around her little finger since the day she was born, and he has been her everything. When she was happy, sad, or needed a friend to talk to Tor has been there. He has dried her tears, cared for her and been with her through all the ups and downs in her life. At 18 she knows he is the one person she loves and wants. She wants him to be her first, her last and her only. But what do you do when the person you love is 15 yrs older and your Dad’s best friend? All Toren has ever wanted in his life is a wife who loves him for who he is and a family of his own. Kenzi is the one that could always bring him to his senses and got him to straighten out his life when he messed up. As she grows into a beautiful woman his feelings for her start to change. She is all he has ever wanted but he knows she is off limits in so many ways. Tor: “I feel sick. I feel tortured. I feel unhinged with want for her. I feel a deep ache in my heart that only she can soothe. I feel like I\’m stabbing a dagger straight through my best friend’s back. The scales are tipping, though, and it\’s scaring the shit out of me.” Carian Cole gives you a true emotional connection with the characters. I could feel their pain. Kenzi: “I love you the most forever” Tor: “My love, walk in the rain with me. Kiss me in the misty fog. Let me hold you all night under the hush of the wind. I’m waiting for you. Always for you. Come back to me. I’ll fight for you. I’ll fight for us. Wish for me, too… and I’ll make it come true.” Their story has captured my heart and stayed.

If you haven\’t yet read this book then STOP RIGHT HERE AS THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!! This popped up onto my newsfeed on facebook after a very good friend of mine liked and commented on a post by the author. I read the synopsis and I was intrigued. I have to be honest, a part of me was worried because of the sensitive subject matter but I needn\’t have worried at all. I think that there was a very fine line to walk with this book but Carian Cole seems to have negotiated it beautifully, tastefully and more importantly, realistically. Not once throughout the telling of this story did I cringe or feel uncomfortable, in fact, it was quite the opposite. I fell in love with both characters from the very start and I was routing for them the whole way through. Tor is an absolute dream, what a guy! His battles within himself when he began to fall for Kenzi were written with such sensitivity and such raw pain that it takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions with him, but not only him, the fact that it was told from both Tor and Kenzi\’s point of view was brilliance, and the way the author did this was to create two very strong, very different characters with two different writing styles. You can absolutely believe that this was written from the points of view of two different people rather than the one author. This is the first book I have read of Carian\’s but it will NOT be the last. I will absolutely be purchasing every one of the Ashes and Embers series and I will wait on tenterhooks for the next installment from the Devil Wolves. The way she writes even the background characters enthralls you, it makes you hungry to know more about each and every one of them! I personally can\’t wait for Tyler\’s story! That is going to be one hell of a ride, I can feel it already. If I had to complain about anything (and it would be small, teeny weeny ones) it would be this…I felt cheated out of a proposal. So much attention had been brought to this family tradition of the big glass bottle, saving for the engagement ring, and then Tor having an accident as he was picking the ring up, I really would have liked to have seen the proposal. Did Tor go and ask Asher for Kenzi\’s hand?? How did he do it? Where did he do it? Did Kenzi love the ring he chose ARGHHHHH (I\’ll just have to let my imagination run wild with that one.) The only other small point would be Embers waking up. It was thrown in there at the very end with little to no information on what was happening, how she had woken up, what was now happening with her and Ash. I\’m hoping (AND PRAYING!!!) that this was intentional because Carian intends to write a book on Asher\’s story which will encompass all of this and answer all our burning questions. So to summarise…YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!! Beautifully written, emotive story that you will not be able to put down. Be ready for a late night with this one!

Wow! What a book. I wasnt entirely sure whether I was gonna like this book. I was just a little worried about the taboo that surrounded the romance in this book. I for one am no prude at all but this was a hesitant subject for me. However I had nothing to worry about as it wasn\’t at all taboo. Not for me anyway. The relationship that evolved throughout these pages was beautiful and touching. It didn\’t feel wrong or forbidden at all. It was just circumstances that changed as Kenzi grew. Torin Grace was in her life from the day she was born. But it wasn\’t until she was in her 18th year that it all changed. What made this book better was the dual timelines that appear throughout this book. The angst and the push and pull throughout was heartbreaking at times. The battle that Torin went through to deny his feeling was horrible to read. But it was hard to fight against what I feel was fate. What I you can see was always in the making. Not in a twisted way. It was just that these two were soul mates and when the time was right for it happen it just did. I don\’t believe nothing could have stopped it. I am glad I read this book as I really didn\’t want to at first. But it was brilliant and I can honestly say a beautiful love story. One that I recommend completely.

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